Sports

Test debut for Ratnayake at Old Trafford?

Published

2 years ago

2024/08/19

Sri Lanka are contemplating handing Milan Ratnayake his Test debut at Old Trafford but it will be a tough ask to leave out Lahiru Kumara, who was the team’s best bowler in their last series win.

Rex Clementine
in Manchester

After Sri Lanka were beaten by England Lions in Worcester with two sessions to spare in the four day game, there was no packing of bags and getting ready to head to the next location – Manchester. Instead, the entire team was in the middle for a training session that went beyond two hours. One exception was uncapped fast bowler Milan Ratnayake.

Sri Lanka played three quicks for the four day game in Worcester that ended on Saturday. Right-arm seamer Asitha Fernando and his namesake Vishwa Fernando, a left-arm seam bowler, were rested from the warm-up game as they were certainties for Old Trafford. So, from the three quicks who played in Worcester, only one was going to feature in the first Test.

Lahiru Kumara, having bowled so well should be backed as the third seamer ahead of Kasun Rajitha and Milan Ratnayake. However, although both Kumara and Rajitha bowled after the game during the training session, Ratnayake was told to take a breather. That’s because of the three seamers, he was the most impressive in Worcester and he could be in line for his Test debut in three days’ time.

However, having said that, it will be a huge call to make for Kumara is Sri Lanka’s quickest bowler and was the highest wicket taker in Sri Lanka’s last series win.

Ratnayake’s ability to bat and bowl well with the older ball are factors that are in favour of him. Selector on tour Ajantha Mendis has a tough call to make.

Born in Kurunegala, Ratnayake learned his cricket at the far off Sri Sumangala Vidyalaya, Wariyapola. Standing at six feet and one inch, the 28-year-old represented Air Force in domestic cricket before moving to Australia.

Ratnayake played cricket in Australia for a couple of years but things didn’t work out with COVID and he returned home and has forced his way back into the senior side with good performance in domestic cricket.

Sri Lanka’s batting was a flop during the warm-up game. In the first innings, it was damp and overcast and the moving ball had the batters work cut out. But in the second essay, when the sun was out, you expected them to do much better.

In fact, they started off well with the openers adding 105 runs. Nishan Madushka was on course for a hundred that would have done his confidence lot of good ahead of the Test series. But he threw it away taking on the off-spinner.

Angelo Mathews and Sadeera Samarawickrama also gave their wickets away to the off-spinner with the former captain attempting a reverse sweep but was unable to execute it properly.

Captain Dhananjaya de Silva, like Mathews scored a half-century but fell to the second new ball shouldering arms.

In the first innings, Sri Lanka were shot out for 139 but fared much better scoring 306 in the second essay. They could have easily posted over 400 runs in the second innings and that would have tested England Lions.

You should not read too much into these warm-up games. The team usually bring up their best game when Test matches get underway.

Not often Sri Lanka get to play in England in the second half of the summer when the wickets have flattened out and the sun is out. Playing Test matches in May is quite a task when wickets are fresh and it is gloomy, dark and damp.

Old Trafford this season has been spinning a lot and Prabath Jayasuriya could have a major impact in the series. Asitha Fernando is a much improved bowler and has won Sri Lanka a few games. Vishwa Fernando, though, is Sri Lanka’s trump card. He featured for Yorkshire this year and had a good season.

Sri Lanka will be back in London next week for back to back Test matches at Lord’s and The Oval. They have not played a Test match at The Oval for 26 years now. Lord’s is nostalgic yes, but the other London Test ground has its own unique place in cricket having hosted the first ever Test match in England. Traditionally, The Oval also hosts the last Test match of the English season.

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Sports

Nalanda on the cusp of reaching knockout stage as unbeaten run continues

Published

28 mins ago

2026/10/7

Sahan Weerasooriya

Rusandu Silva has nine wickets against his name after three matches.

by Reemus Fernando

Nalanda College, Colombo continued their unbeaten run to come closer to securing a berth in the knockout stage as they beat Gurukula College by nine wickets in the Under 19 Division I Tier A Limited Overs Tournament match played at Campbell Place on Tuesday.

‎With Rusandu Silva continuing his impressive run in the tournament, Nalanda did well to restrict the team from Kelaniya to just 113 runs (in 35.4 overs).

‎After two outings Rusandu had six wickets against his name coming to this match.‎Rusandu and Methuka Perera claimed three wickets each. ‎Lithum Wijekumara also impressed with two wickets, while Santhul Wijeyarathne took one.

‎Adeepa Pinsara was the only batsman to make a contribution of note as he top-scored with 35 off 49 balls, including four fours and two sixes, while Javindu Madusanka made 20.

‎In their chase Nalanda made light work of the modest target, reaching 114 for one, scoring at a rate of over a run a ball.

‎Nadul Jayalath cracked an unbeaten 62 from just 52 balls. His innings contained four fours and five sixes. He received valuable support from Lithum Wijekumara, who scored 35 off 42 deliveries with six boundaries.

‎Ranmith Senarath completed the successful chase with an unbeaten 10 off seven balls, including two fours.

‎Nalanda lost only one wicket as the opening pair added 89 for the first wicket. Jayalath and Senarath then finished the contest comfortably, securing a convincing nine-wicket victory with many overs to spare.

‎It was Nalanda’s third successive victory in the Tier A tourney after having beaten Thurstan (155) by seven wickets and St. Servatius’ Matara (187) by four wickets in the first two matches.

‎As of now, they are the leading team in Group G where they have only St. Joseph’s Darley Road to meet before the knockout stage.

‎With just two teams advancing to the next stage from each Group Nalanda are almost assured of their place.

Sports

Wins for Hayley’s Group ‘A’ , HNB ‘A’ and CDB on Saturday

Published

29 mins ago

2026/10/7

Sahan Weerasooriya

33RD SINGER – MCA Super PREMIER LEAGUE

Hayley’s Group ‘A’, HNB ‘A’ and CDB registered wins by defeating Colombo Aces, Fairfirst Insurance and SLC Youth in the matches of the Mercantile Cricket Association’s Super Premier League cricket tournament on Sunday (04).

The MCA Super Premier League is sponsored by Singer Sri Lanka for the 33rd consecutive year.

At the Bloomfield Cricket ground, Nishan Madushka, Pulindu Perera and Minod Dhanuka smashed half tons as Hayley’s Group ‘A’ registered their second win of the tournament defeating Colombo Aces by six wickets.

At the Thurstan ground, Nipun Dhananjaya and Muditha Lakshan posted eighty plus scores to help CDB amass 307/8, which the bowlers defended by 71runs.

At the Colts Ground Milan Rathnayake starred with bat and ball [71 and 3-24] to help HNB ‘A’ overcome SLC Youth by 41 runs. Rehan Pieris topped SLC Youth score card with a 108 ball 77 with six fours and a six.

At Bloomfield Ground Colombo:

Hayley’s overcome Colombo Aces by six wickets

Colombo Aces 222/10 in 49 overs

[ Kavin Bandara 62, Dinura Kalupahan 50; Dhanajaya Lakshan 2-14, Ramesh Mendis 4-36]

Hayleys Group A 227/4 in 25.2 overs [Nishan Madushka 61, Pulindu Perera 51, Minod Bhanuka 54; Dinura Kalupahana 2-35]

At Thurstan College Ground:

CDB BY 71 runs

CDB 307/8 in 50 overs

[ Vishsd Randika 53, Nipun Dhananjaya 86, Muditha Lakshan 89; Himesh Ramanayake 3-49, ]

Fairfirst Insurance 236/10 in 46.4 overs

[Sanoj Dharshika 58, Yasiru Rodriga 78; Movin Subasinghe 3-27, Lahiru Madushanka 2-16]

At Colts ground;

Milan Rathnayake stars in HNB A’s 41 run win:

HNB ‘A’ 262/10 in 50 overs

[Janishka Perera 43, Anjala Bandara 54, Milan Rathnayake 71; Gimhan Mendis 2-43, Latheendra Akash 2-28, Himaru Deshan 2-42]

SLC Youth 221/10 in 44 overs [Rehan Peiris 77, Kithma Widnapathirana 53; Duvindu Ranathunga 2-40, Milan Rathnayake 3-24, Chamindu Wijesinghe 2-18]

Sports

Rumesh Tharanga among nominees announced for World Athlete of the Year 2026

Published

30 mins ago

2026/10/7

Sahan Weerasooriya

The 20 nominees for the World Athlete of the Year honours have been announced ahead of the World Athletics Awards taking place in Monaco on 29 November.

The nominees – selected by an international panel of athletics experts – include 10 for Women’s World Athlete of the Year and 10 for Men’s World Athlete of the Year.

In what has been another sensational year for the sport, the nominations reflect some of the standout performances achieved at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship and World Athletics Series events held throughout the year, as well as during various one-day meeting circuits, Label road races and other events around the world.

Nominees for 2026 Women’s World Athlete of the Year (in alphabetical order):

Tigest Assefa, Ethiopia

• Won the Berlin Marathon in 2:11:04, the third-fastest time in history

• Won the London Marathon in a women-only world record of 2:15:41

Chase Jackson, USA

• Twice improved the North American shot put record, to 21.02m and 21.14m

• Won the world indoor title and set a Diamond League record to regain the Diamond Trophy

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, USA

• Won a sprint double at the Ultimate Championship

• Set world leads of 10.62 in the 100m and 21.47 in the 200m, the latter putting her third on the world all-time list

Agnes Ngetich, Kenya

• Won the world half marathon title by 50 seconds in a women-only world record of 1:05:15 and won the world cross-country title by 42 seconds

• Ran world leads of 8:08.95 for 3000m and 28:58 for 10km

Marileidy Paulino, Dominican Republic

• Won the Ultimate 400m title and regained the Diamond League title

• Set a world lead and Diamond League record of 48.48 and remained unbeaten, running under 49 seconds in eight races

Maria Perez, Spain

• Set an inaugural world half marathon race walk record of 1:30:06

• Won the European title by 58 seconds with that world record performance

Camryn Rogers,Canada

• Improved her own North American hammer record with 81.13m, strengthening her place at second on the world all-time list

• Achieved the five best performances in the world and retained the Commonwealth Games title

Masai Russell, USA

• Set a world 100m hurdles record of 12.09 and achieved nine of the 10 fastest times of the season

• Won Ultimate and Diamond League titles as part of an unbeaten season in the 100m hurdles

Aubrey Werro, Switzerland

• Won Ultimate, Diamond League and European 800m titles

• Broke the Diamond League record three times, improving to a world lead of 1:53.70 – putting her third on the world all-time list

Yan Zivi, China

• Threw 71.74m on her season opener, an Asian and world U20 record that puts her second on the world javelin all-time list

• Won Diamond League and Asian Games titles

Nominees for 2026 Men’s World Athlete of the Year (in alphabetical order):

Kenneth Bednarek, USA

• Achieved a sprint double at the Ultimate Championship, winning the 100m in 9.85 and 200m in a world-leading PB of 19.52

• Won the Diamond League 200m title in 19.62

Kristian Ceh. Slovenia

• Won the Diamond League discus title with a Memorial van Damme meeting record of 71.29m

• Retained the European title with a championship record of 72.51m

Andy Diaz Hernandez, Italy

• Won world indoor, Diamond League and European triple jump titles

• Jumped 18.15m to move to fourth on the world all-time list

Allison dos Santos, Brazil

• Set a world 400m hurdles record of 45.80 and won the Ultimate title in 45.98, the third-fastest time in history

• Went undefeated in 11 hurdles races, including the Diamond League Final

Mondo Duplantis, Sweeden

• Improved his world pole vault record to 6.31m

• Won Ultimate, world indoor and European titles

Collen Kebinatshipi, Botswana

• Won the Ultimate 400m title in 43.39, putting him fifth on the world all-time list

• Won the Diamond League title and improved the Diamond League record three times, to a best of 43.40 – one of his six sub-44.00 races, a record for a single season

Josh Kerr, Great Britain and NI

• Set a world mile record of 3:42.66, achieving a world lead of 3:27.62 for his 1500m split

• Won Ultimate 1500m, world indoor 3000m, and Commonwealth Games mile titles

Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage,Sri Lanka

• Won Ultimate, Diamond League, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games javelin titles

• Set a world-leading national record of 92.62m and won 13 of his 14 competitions

Sabastian Sawe, Kenya

• Won the London Marathon in a world record of 1:59:30

• Became the first man to break two hours in a record-eligible marathon

JaKobe Tarp, USA

• Set a world 110m hurdles record of 12.75 at the NCAA Championships

• Won Ultimate and Diamond League titles and broke 13 seconds in six races

An eight-strong panel of statisticians – two members from World Athletics and one from each of the six area associations – selected the nominees. A four-way vote, which closes on Saturday 17 October at midnight CEST, will now determine their final ranking, from first to 10th.

Each of the four voting groups will contribute 25% of the final vote:

• World Athletics fans voting

by survey available via the World Athletics app, website and social media channels

• Athletes

who have competed at World Athletics Series events during 2026

• Members of the media

including TV and radio commentators, written press journalists and content creators who have been accredited at World Athletics Series events in 2026

• World Athletics Family

including Council members; commission members; athlete representatives; World Athletics Series event local organising committee chairs; Diamond League, World Indoor Tour Gold and Continental Tour Gold meeting directors; member federation presidents; official partners; and World Athletics staff

The six finalists – three for the women’s World Athlete of the Year award and three for the men’s – will be announced on 10 and 11 November and be invited to Monaco for the World Athletics Awards on 29 November, when each winner will be announced live on stage.

Other awards presented on stage will include the men’s and women’s Rising Star honours, Coach of the Year, the President’s Award and, for the first time, the Moment of the Year award.

[World Athletics]